Scrapbook

Memorable Events with Members of the Richmond Astronomical Society

At an impromptu observing session at Leakes Mill Park on June 25, 2017 Tyler Hutchison captured an image of the ground operations. A blog post by Tyler is here with additional images of the Milky Way and a two-day old moon.

Astronomy Day at the Science Museum in May 2017 with RAS and Science Museum volunteers staffing the exhibits.

Astronomy Day at the Science Museum in May 2017 with RAS and Science Museum volunteers staffing the exhibits with Matthew Roy and a visitor to his solar-filtered telescope.

Astronomy Day at the Science Museum in May 2017 with RAS volunteer Betty Wilson explaining meteorite science to some visitors.

Astronomy Day at the Science Museum in May 2017 with Dan Salkovitz at the water rocket launch controls.

RAS astronomers at the dedication ceremony for the Dark Sky Observation Area at Staunton River State Park in April of 2017 – (left to right) Jim Langley, Pernel Johnson, John Raymond, Jim Browder and Ray Moody (not pictured). Video of the event here.

Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe dedicating the Dark Sky Observation Area at Staunton River State Park on April 16, 2017 with members of the Chapel Hill Observational and Astronomical Society and Raleigh Astronomical Society. RAS members were there to help with a special skywatch for the Governor, his family and staff. Video of the event here.

John Raymond sporting his Oxygen III jersey with his Herschel-wedge-equipped solar viewing scope deployed for a visitor at the Northeast Astronomy Forum (NEAF) at Suffern, NY in April 2017.

Setting up for a skywatch at James River State Park in April 2017 (image courtesy of John Raymond).

Tyler Hutchison at his presentation on the “Effect of Altitude on Quantity of Muon Particles Detected in Cloud Chamber” at the Junior Science and Humanities Symposia at James Madison University in March 2017.

Dwight Talley at the debut exhibition of his astrophotography and other photography at the Albuquerque Photographer’s gallery in Albuquerque, New Mexico in February 2017. More of his work is at https://www.dwight-talley.com/.

Tyler Hutchison with a customer at the Science Museum skywatch on February 17, 2017.

Ted Bethune presenting at a monthly RAS meeting on fallen astronauts.

Steve Conard presenting at the December 2016 RAS meeting. Steve was the Lead Engineer on development of the LORRI Imager for the New Horizons Pluto Mission.

Randy Tatum, Clive Callaway and Jim Browder preparing the 25″ telescope for an evening of observing at Belmead in August 2016. Image by Bill Dickinson.

Stunning image of the sky over Belmead captured by Bill Dickinson at an RAS skywatch on August 27, 2016.

Dan Salkovitz at the June 2016 Science Museum skywatch operating his Schmidt Cassegrain telescope with the assistance of some very stylish illuminated shoes. Thanks to Angie Hutchison for the image.

Justin Bartel at the controls of the universe (actually The Dome at the Science Museum) in 2016.

Tyler Hutchison on telescope duty at the June 2016 skywatch at the Science Museum of Virginia. Thanks to Angie Hutchison for the image.

The 2015 installment of the RAS traditional December “Eating Meeting” where we transform into the Richmond Gastronomical Society, give away a few door prizes and socialize. Thanks to David Medici for the image.

Michael Pitchford manning the food deployment at the RAS December 2015 “Eating Meeting.” Thanks to David Medici for the image.

The RAS Ragland Observatory telescope targeting the moon during an open house hosted by John Raymond in November 2015.

The RAS solar observing station at the November 2015 Holly Days Bazaar in Powhatan. We had two white light scopes deployed along with the club’s hydrogen-alpha PST scope. The weather was outstanding for solar observing.

John Raymond staffing the RAS solar observing station at the November 2015 Holly Days Bazaar in Powhatan. One of the white light scopes with Mylar filter and the club’s hydrogen-alpha scope are shown.

Another view of the RAS solar observing station at the November 2015 Holly Days Bazaar in Powhatan.

Ray Moody deploying his scope at the RAS 2015 fall picnic under a cloudless sky with a setting crescent moon. Image courtesy of John Barnett.

Chefs Matthew Roy and David Medici supplying our November 2015 RAS fall picnic with superbly grilled burgers and chicken. Thanks to Matthew and David for all their work and to Demetrius for the use of his grill and to all the visitors who brought a variety of delicious items. Special thanks to Matthew for coordinating the event and to Francis Emma, Inc. for hosting us at Belmead. We ate well and had a great time.

Bacon, grilled onions, burgers and chicken ready to be served at our November 2015 RAS fall picnic.

RAS 2015 fall picnic. A view toward the Belmead mansion by John Barnett.

Image of the crescent moon at our November 2015 RAS fall picnic captured by Jim Blowers. The skies were excellent for our picnic and observing session – good transparency and seeing with cold but tolerable temperatures.

David Medici on a cold, clear morning at the October 2015 Staunton River Star Party.

Ray Moody with visitors at the October 2015 skywatch hosted by L. C. Bird High School Astronomy Club. Thanks to David Medici for coordinating the event and for use of this image.

The Richmond crew at the 2015 meeting of the Virginia Association of Astronomical Societies in October 2015.

Jim Blowers presenting on “Universal Numbers” at the September 2015 monthly meeting.

Dan Salkovitz showing visitors objects in the early evening sky at Science Museum of Virginia skywatch in September 2015.

Jim Blowers presenting on “Universal Numbers” at the September 2015 monthly meeting.

Ted Bethune presenting in August 2015 on the missions of John Young at the Science Museum of Virginia as part of their Lunch Break Science program.

Ceremony in July 2015 dedicating Staunton River State Park as an IDA Dark Sky Park.

Richmond Astronomers at the March 2015 installment of the Staunton River Star Party: Madhup Rathi, John Raymond, Pernel Johnson, David Medici, Jim Langley, Joe Racette and Jim Browder.RAS sponsored several informal talks as our contribution to the party and we thank all the speakers who presented, including John Raymond, Pernel Johnson, Laura Greenleaf, Jim Langley and Jim Browder. Many thanks to our friends at the Chapel Hill Astronomical and Observational Society (CHAOS) and the Staunton River State Park for hosting the party.

Montage of images from the 2014 Fall RAS picnic at Belmead in Powhatan.. Beautiful afternoon views, delicious food and marvelous company were followed, unfortunately, by clouds after sunset. After 11:00 PM the clouds parted and those of us that remained were treated to a dark sky that was clear from edge-to-edge for a couple of hours. Master Chef David Medici is shown at the helm of the grill.

John Goss, 2015 president of the Astronomical League, found an item in a 1950 issue of the Astronomical League’s magazine, The Reflector. The news item welcomes the Richmond Astronomical Society into the League! Image below courtesy of John Goss. For more information about the Astronomical League and the benefits it offers, visit http://www.astroleague.org/. Membership in the Astronomical League is included in Richmond Astronomical Society membership.

Randy Tatum at the helm of the RAS Ragland Observatory telescope on a Fall morning in October 2014. The inset is an image of the sun in hydrogen-alpha light showing what Randy was viewing on that morning.

Image of the twilight sky captured by John Raymond at the May 17 skywatch at Powhatan State Park.

Jim Browder, Russ Hummel (suited up for launch) and David Medici (expertly photobombing) pictures at Astronomy Day at the Science Musuem of Virginia in May 2014.

Jerry Hubbell, president of the Rappahannock Astronomy Club and Vice President of Explore Scientific, describing his design, construction and testing of a fiber-fed spectrometer at the November 12, 2013 meeting.

Ted Bethune describing the history of the Daedalus Project Concept at the November 12, 2013 meeting.

John Raymond at the November 12, 2013 meeting showing us some pictures from the latest East Coast Star Party hosted by Kent Blackwell at Coinjock, NC. Visitors were treated to a great view of the partial solar eclipse at sunrise on November 6.

The partial solar eclipse at sunrise on November 3, 2013 as viewed from Virginia Beach captured by Jim Browder.

Observing from Belmead on the James after the RAS Fall picnic, captured by Dan Gaitanis under a beautiful Milky Way on October 26.

A short video of the Staunton River Star Party, jointly hosted by the Staunton River State Park and the Chapel Hill Astronomy CLub (CHAOS) in October 2013. Many thanks to both the Park and CHAOS who did a great job managing the event.More information about the Staunton River State Park is here and the CHAOS group is here.To see the video, click on the image to the left or on this link http://youtu.be/flwTsQQCN6g.

Ted Bethune at the September 2013 RAS meeting giving us an update on space exploration activities. Jim Browder is at the slideshow console.

Observing at Belmead on the James on September 7, 2013. The evening was beautiful and RAS was well represented. We were able to see considerable structure in the Milky Way. Pictured at the left is John Raymond’s large refractor aimed at the southern sky.

Waving at Saturn and the Cassini probe on July 19, 2013. On this date between 5:27 and 5:42 PM the Cassini spacecraft imaged Saturn with Earth in the background and we were there to remember the moment.

Astronomers having fun at the May 2013 skywatch – Chris McCann, Bryan Hartley and John Raymond checking out Saturn as we understand.

At the November 2012 meeting Ted Bethune provided an update on space program activity by the space-faring nations of Earth. Of note is the recent high level of activity in the Chinese space program. The image to the left shows three Chinese taikonauts on a mission.

2012 was the year for the Richmond Astronomical Society to host the annual conference of the Virginia Association of Astronomical Societies. Thanks to the great speakers, the vendors, the RAS volunteers, the participants, the Heart of Virginia Scouting Council and most of all to Betty Wilson and Ken Wilson for all their work in planning and coordinating the event. Betty masterfully handled planning and coordination down to the last detail and Ken invited and coordinated our slate of fine speakers. It was a great event and it simply would not have been the event it was without everyone’s help and participation (image courtesy of David Medici). Click on the image to the left for a short slideshow of the event or click here for a short video.

RAS members Bill Jeffries and Ted Bethune representing RAS at a NASA outreach event held at the Science Museum of Virginia. Students at the Museum were allowed to speak directly with astronauts aboard the International Space Station through a direct downlink. RAS was there to assist with the activities and join in the fun. (Images courtesy of Ted Bethune.)

An afternoon in May at the Ragland Observatory near Midlothian, Virginia. Click on the image to the left for a short video tour of the observatory.

Astronomy Day 2012 at the Science Museum of Virginia where we had on display Sydney’s telescope, a meteorite specimen, skymaps, dark sky preservation information, a video astronomy demo, lots of astronomy information, a few of our astroimages and our ever popular roving astronaut. The rocket launching, solar viewing and nighttime viewing were curtailed by the weather, but we had a very fun indoor session in the evening at Belmead on the James in the Thomas Berry Educational Center. Many thanks to all who supported the event!

Video: RAS Fall Picnic at the Heart of Virginia Scout Reservation, September 17, 2011. Click on the image to run the video.

Some of the astronomers who attended the Heart of Virginia Fall Star Party in November 2011. The facilities, location and hospitality were all much appreciated. Many thanks to the Heart of Virginia Scout Council for hosting this event. Images courtesy of Tim Streagle.

December 2011 potluck dinner meeting where Tim Streagle presented images and a recap of the Heart of Virginia Fall Star Party, Leslie Bochenski led us in a rousing game of Astro-Jeopardy and we had a marvelous assortment of dishes and desserts to celebrate the holiday season. Image courtesy of David Medici.

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Solar Eclipse 2017

The big event of 2017 is going to be a total solar eclipse on Aug. 21. It’s the first total solar eclipse visible from the continental United States in nearly four decades. But, it’s only going to be visible in certain locations. the web sitespace.com has a very nice video of where you’ll be able to see it.

For us Virginians, that means travel to Tennessee, far western N. Carolina, or S. Carolina.